My classic science fiction film collection

PEOPLE OF EARTH ATTENTION!

It should be clear for anyone visiting this website that I'm a big fan of science fiction films, especially as I'm constantly making Star Wars references as well as owning a Dune collection inspired from the film made in 1984. Yet what may not be widely known is that I'm also a huge fan of science fiction films made from the golden era of cinema 1929-1965. In fact this genre is such a big deal to me that I even ran a convention in July 2012 to help celebrate it ... see Con 9 From Outer Space.

Being a fan of classic sci-fi films it's probably no surprise to learn that I collect them too. In years gone by the collection was only ever on VHS, but these days DVD is more prevalent which is ironic as my first EVER DVD purchase was ... Plan 9 From Outer Space.

So what is it about these films that attract me to them? Well I think a lot has to do with the fact that I saw many of them when I was really young so they left a big impression, especially as the only way to see them was on free-to-air TV (no video recorders back in those days). In fact I still remember being scared to go to bed after seeing The Blob as well as having to turn the TV off in fright after the dogs chewed the arm off The Thing. But that aside these films also have a real innocence about them, especially as they have a complete lack of swearing, hardly any violence (certainly nothing that would be considered extreme) and were totally reliant on old school special effects to tell their story. In short these films are great fun to watch - even the bad ones.

So do I have any favourites? You betcha...

Clearly #1 has to be The Day the Earth Stood Still which stands right next to Forbidden Planet. These two films are fantastic examples of classic science fiction at its best and offer great repeat viewing pleasure.

Directly behind our top two are The Thing (From Another World) which I love for the chatty overlapping dialogue and Metropolis which is a personal fave. Next to this are Fiend Without a Face and The Incredible Shrinking Man the latter of which is a truly excellent movie.

Other films I really enjoy are This Island Earth, War of the Worlds, The Blob, Earth vs The Flying Saucers, and The Fly.

In terms of films that are so bad they HAVE to be good, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians is a real treat for watching on Christmas Eve as well as Plan 9 From Outer Space which I think lives in the hearts of all classic sci-fi fans.

As fortune would have it, I've not yet seen every film I own which means I have a ready supply of new movies to watch on a rainy day. One thing is for certain, if you're feeling a bit fed up with the world, nothing brings a smile to the face more than popping on a 50s classic and just letting the nostalgia play.

Below is a DVD listing of the collection including TV shows and weekly serials, remember that it's by no means complete as I'm still in the process of filling some gaps.

12 to the Moon
1984
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
20 Million Miles to Earth
4D Man
Alligator People
Amazing Colossal Man, The
Amazing Transparent Man, The
Angry Red Planet, The
Assignment Outer Space
Astounding She-Monster, The
Atomic Man, The
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman
Attack of the Crab Monsters
Attack of the Giant Leeches
Attack of the Puppet People
Atomic Submarine, The
Battle Beyond the Sun
Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, The
Beast of Hollow Mountain, The
Beast with a 1,000,000 Eyes, The
Beginning of the End
Beyond the Time Barrier
Black Scorpion, The
Blob, The
Brain from Planet Arous, The
Brain Machine, The*
Brain That Wouldn't Die, The
Brick Bradford (serial)
Buck Rogers (serial)
Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere (serial)
Cat Women of the Moon
Colossus of New York, The
Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe (serial)
Conquest of Space
Cosmos: War of the Planets *
Cosmic Man, The
Crack in the World
Crawling Eye, The
Crash of Moons *
Creation of the Humanoids
Creature Walks Among Us, The
Creature with the Atom Brain
Creature from the Black Lagoon
Curse of the Fly
Day Mars Invaded Earth, The
Day of the Triffids, The
Day the Earth Caught Fire, The
Day the Earth Stood Still, The
Day the Sky Exploded, The
Day the World Ended
Deadly Mantis, The
Destination Moon
Destination Space
Destroy all Planets *
Devil Girl From Mars
Donovan's Brain
Earth Dies Screaming, The
Earth vs The Flying Saucers
Earth vs The Spider
Eye Creatures, The
Fantastic Voyage
Fiend Without a Face
Fire Maidens from Outer Space
First Men in the Moon
First Spaceship on Venus
Five
Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (serial)
Flash Gordon Space Soldiers (serial)
Flash Gordon Trip to Mars (serial)
Flight to Mars
Fly, The
Flying Disc Man from Mars (serial)
Flying Saucer, The
Forbidden Planet
Four Sided Triangle
From the Earth to the Moon
Giant Behemoth, The
Giant Claw, The
Giant Gila Monster
Gog
Green Slime, The
I Married a Monster from Outer Space
Incredible Petrified World, The*
Incredible Shrinking Man, The
Invaders from Mars
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Invasion of the Saucer Men
Invisible Boy, The
Invisible Invaders
Invisible Man, The
It Came from Beneath the Sea
It Came from Outer Space
It Conquered the World
It! The Terror from Beyond Space
Journey to the 7th Planet
Journey to the Centre of the Earth
Journey to the Far Side of the Sun
Killers from Space *
King of the Rocket Men
Kronos
Laser Mission *
Last Man on Earth, The
Last Woman on Earth
Lost Continent
Lost Planet, The (serial)
Magnetic Monster, The
Man from Planet X, The
Mars Needs Women
Menace from Outer Space *
Mesa of Lost Women *
Metropolis
Missile to the Moon
Mole People, The
Monolith Monsters, The
Monster from Green Hell
Monster of Piedras Blancas, The
Monster that Challenged the World, The
Monstrosity
Not of this Earth
Outer Limits, The (TV show)
Phantom Empire, The (serial)
Phantom from 10,000 Leagues, The
Phantom from Space *
Phantom Planet, The
Plan 9 From Outer Space
Planet Outlaws *
Prehistoric Women *
Project Moonbase
Purple Monster Strikes, The (serial)
Quatermass Xperiment, The
Quatermass II
Quatermass and the Pit
Queen of Outer Space
Radar Men from the Moon (serial)
Red Planet Mars
Return of the Fly
Revenge of the Creature
Riders to the Stars
Robinson Crusoe on Mars
Robot Monster
Rocketship X-M
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
Satellite in the Sky
Science Fiction Theatre (TV show)
She Creature
Slime People, The
Snow Creature *
Space Master X-7
Spaceways
Stranger from Venus
Strange World of Planet X, The
Tarantula
Target Earth
Teenagers from Outer Space
Terror from the Year 5000
Thing (From Another World), The
Time Machine, The
Time Travellers, The
The World, The Flesh and The Devil
Them!
They Came from Beyond Space *
They Saved Hitler's Brain
Things to Come
This Island Earth
Twilight Zone, The (TV show)
Tobor the Great
Undersea Kingdom (serial)
Unknown World
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Voyage to the End of the Universe
Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women *
Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet *
War of the Colossal Beast
War of the Worlds, The
Warning from Space
Wasp Woman, The
When Worlds Collide
World Without End
X: The Man with X-Ray Eyes
X The Unknown
Zombies of the Stratosphere (serial)
Zontar The Thing From Venus *

* Is part of a large DVD box set compilation so the film doesn't have its own dedicated cover.

It's worth noting that not all the films are official releases as many are now listed as Public Domain. In the case where a film is simply not available on DVD, the only alternative is for fans to create their own versions. The good thing is the films still have nicely presented covers with menus, chapters and sometimes even extra features, the only difference is that they aren't licenced by anyone and often the film quality isn't the best. Still, to me they're as good as owning the real thing and look just as great on the bookshelf - as can be seen below.

An example of a DVD cover I made myself